8 fun facts about new Canucks forward Teddy Blueger

The Vancouver Canucks doubled the number of Latvians in their organization when they signed Teddy Blueger to a one-year, $1.9 million deal on the first day of free agency.

Blueger just won a Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights, although he only suited up in six of their 22 playoff games.

Prior to that, Blueger played 250 career NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, mainly as an energetic fourth-liner with a knack for killing penalties.

Here are eight fun facts you should know about the newest member of the Canucks.

1. Crosby “accidentally” inspired his development

“Teodors Bluegers” was born in Riga, Latvia. By the time he was a teenager, his father, Valentin, knew that he needed to go to North America if he wanted a chance of making the NHL.

“We understood that for his progress, he has to go to somewhere where there’s high level hockey,” Teddy’s father Valentin said in this 2020 interview.

Bleuger and his family were preparing to travel to North America to find a place for Blueger to play. They were originally looking at high school hockey programs in New York, when something else caught their attention.

“My mom and I were watching a re-run of the [Pittsburgh] Penguins playing the [Minnesota] Wild,” Blueger said in this interview. “They were doing this segment about [Sidney Crosby] and how he was going back to Minnesota and went to [Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep School].

“Just the way we found out about it was a complete accident.”

Blueger ended up following in Crosby’s footsteps by going to Shattuck’s for three seasons to begin his North American hockey career.

2. He speaks perfect English

You’ll be hard pressed to detect any semblance of an accent when Blueger speaks English. The Latvian forward sounds like he could be from Saskatchewan in interviews.

"Vancouver is by far the best match for us and feel very happy and looking forward to get going in the fall."

🗣 Newly signed centre, Teddy Blueger, meets with the media for the first time. pic.twitter.com/lbFpTxnIUn

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) July 1, 2023

3. Third-highest NHL drafted Lavtian ever

Blueger’s solid performance at Shattuck’s led to him being drafted in the second round of 2012 NHL draft at 52nd overall. Only Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall in 2012) and Sandis Ozolinsh (30th overall in 1991) were higher drafted Latvians.

Blueger was drafted by the Penguins when Patrik Allvin was a scout. However, Allvin was primarily involved with European scouting. While Blueger is European, he was playing in North America.

According to QuantHockey, 27 Latvians have played in the NHL. Blueger ranks fifth among them with 98 points in 268 career NHL games.

He’ll also be the fifth Latvian player to play for the Canucks, although only just the second skater. Aside from current Canucks netminder, Silovs, goalies Peter Skudra, Arturs Irbe, and winger Ronalds Kenins were previous Latvians to play hockey in Vancouver.

4. Teammate compared him to an “octopus”

Have you ever heard a hockey player compared to an octopus?

“He’s like an octopus,”  fellow countryman and Columbus Blue Jackets’ goaltender Elvis Merzlikins said in this interview. “He’s competitive, he’s tough, he’s never giving up on a play. He’s trying to steal that puck, and that makes him a dangerous player.”

It’s not surprising that Merzlikins has respect for his international Latvian teammate, as Blueger has bested him during NHL action on a couple of occasions.

None more notable than this goal.

5. Rarely took offensive zone faceoffs in Pittsburgh

The offensive zone might sometimes feel like a faraway land for someone like Blueger. Admittedly, growing into a checking role was an adjustment for him.

“Offence is way more fun,” Blueger told The Athletic in February. “Scoring goals, right? That’s the best part of the game and everybody wants to do that, but you also want to be a part of the team and get to the NHL.”

There’s definitely a place in the game for defensively-orientated centres, but almost no one plays in the defensive zone as much as Blueger.

The 28-year-old’s offensive zone start percentage of 18.1% ranked 682nd among 688 NHLers last season. Among centres, only Nic Dowd (Washington Capitals) and Tomas Nosek (Boston Bruins) started a higher percentage of shifts in their own end.

6. He’s a bookworm

While most NHLers might be bringing their Xbox’s on the road, it sounds like Blueger might be fine with a book instead.

Blueger talked in this interview about how he likes to read books from a number of different genres, and how he takes book recommendations from listening to podcasts.

“I just find that a lot of times, there’s a lot you can learn, whether it’s different autobiographies or psychology or even some fiction,” Blueger said.

7. Majored in sports management

By all accounts, Blueger has always been a hard worker.

His NCAA coach told a story once about how most of the team was taking the night off after a night on the town. When the coach walked to the rink in the morning, he was surprised to see Blueger on the ice.

“I walked out to the rink and there was Teddy doing his edge work,” Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings recalls. “He had thrown his mouthguard in and went out to skate.

“I remember thinking, ‘This kid is going to make it.”

While he attended Minnesota State University, Blueger got his major in sports management.

8. Once scored a 5-on-3 shorthanded goal

This happens almost never.

However, back in January of 2021, Blueger scored the rare shorthanded goal while his team was down by two skaters.

While it’s unlikely that he’ll replicate this in Vancouver, the Canucks would be happy if he could just kill penalties.